Craving
by lookingforthestars
Summary: "Didn't you miss this?"


**Alright, so I wrote my angsty one-shot and my happy one-shot, now it's time for the smutty one-shot! Our babies need to be together and writing fics is helping me cope until I can (eventually) heal. I hope they help you too.**

"What…what is all this?"

The excitement he felt when he answered the door and ushered Paige inside the garage started to dissipate at her confused expression. She was wearing a short red dress and her hair was in waves—he'd suggested dinner at a restaurant to obscure his real plans, and it occurred to him for the first time that she might be annoyed about getting ready for a night out somewhat unnecessarily. Or worse, she could be angry that he'd misled her again.

He could have thought this through more.

"Sorry," Walter said reflexively, stepping in front of Paige and putting his hands on her arms just below her elbows. "We can go out, like I said. I was just…n-nothing. Are you ready?"

"Walter, wait," she said gently, sliding her own hands up to his forearms. "Did you do this for me? For tonight?"

The genius glanced behind him, feeling an illogical rush of nerves. "Yes?" Walter supposed it would be a lie to pretend that he hadn't spent all afternoon cleaning the garage, picking up a comfortable rug for the floor and enlisting the assistance of a liquor store clerk to choose a bottle of wine. Dinner was catered, of course. He didn't want the evening to be a complete disaster. "I thought it would be nice to…t-to talk. Without any distractions. But we don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

Paige stepped forward, her palms coming up to cradle his face. She really did look lovely in the candlelight. "It's beautiful. Thank you." Her lips touched his, just briefly, but it was enough to reassure him that his surprise was not unwelcome. "You didn't have to go all out, you know. I would have been happy with Kovelsky's."

He wasn't an expert in dating, but he was fairly sure she was being hyperbolic. Their first date after two months of separation called for more than a greasy diner. But he understood. They were finally together again, and nothing beyond that mattered much. "I wanted it to be special. I know…" It was important for him to express his thoughts to her, but he still found himself forcing the words past his lips. "I took you for granted. I didn't put in the effort I should have. This time will be different."

"Walter," she sighed again, wrapping her arms around his neck as his fingers curled into her hips. It felt so natural, being in this position, that he couldn't believe they hadn't been that way forever. "I appreciate that. But I took you for granted too, okay? It's not all on you to fix us."

He nodded. They'd already said their apologies, promised to do better, to try harder. They apologized what seemed like an almost excessive amount, but it could never been enough to make up for how much they hurt each other.

Ralph had been downstairs at the time, and they'd both agreed that it wasn't a good idea for her to stay the night even though he desperately wanted her to. But they were alone, now, and although Walter didn't have any expectations about what would happen as a result of that, he was grateful to be able to talk openly.

"Can we eat? I'm starving."

Walter grinned, helping her get comfortable and then retrieving their dinner from the kitchen. After a few awkward starts, they fell into a natural rhythm between bites of salad and chicken, chatting about Ralph and hammering out the details of the partnership between Scorpion 2.0 and Centipede to work together on cases while still operating as separate entities, until both teams were sure that they were ready to merge. It wasn't a perfect solution, but Walter accepted that everything wouldn't go back to normal right away. It would take time to repair what they'd broken.

Paige stretched her legs in front of her, absentmindedly running her fingers along the edge of her wine glass. Walter was acutely aware of the motion. It was always the smallest details about her that intrigued him the most.

"Thank you for tonight," she said after a beat of silence. "Just…I don't know." Paige dipped her head, her cheeks flushing as she focused intently on her glass. "For being willing to try again. I wouldn't blame you if you weren't. But I really missed this."

Walter swallowed, her words having a much deeper effect than he wanted to admit. "Me too." He hesitated before placing his hand on her free one, brushing his thumb over her warm skin. "I-I never wanted anything but this."

Her eyes were dark when she looked at him, and Walter suddenly felt like he might spontaneously combust. He wasn't sure if she was easing the tension or making it worse when she tucked her legs underneath her, rising up onto her knees and leaning forward until her lips were on his.

She'd kissed him the night they agreed to start over, but that was tentative, the first step toward something more. When her tongue swept his lips, a quiet moan escaping her throat when he opened them, and her skilled fingers went to work on the top button of his shirt, it occurred to him that this was the _something more._

Walter reluctantly broke away, his heart pumping so loudly he could barely hear himself over it. "Are you sure? I-I didn't…I mean I didn't plan this to…"

"I know," Paige said a little breathlessly, one hand gripping his shirt as the other rested on the base of his neck. "You're not rushing me. I just miss the way you feel." She kissed him again, his muscles tightening as she trailed her fingers down his abdomen. "Didn't you miss this?"

Walter groaned inwardly as he recalled the state of frustration he'd worked himself into all those nights he was alone. He couldn't think about her and he couldn't think about anyone else, and even his genius brain was unable to find a solution to that particular dilemma.

"Yes," he admitted before capturing her lips, his hands on her hips for support as she straddled him. Paige's dress rode up her thighs and she gasped into the kiss when Walter slid a hand between them and stroked her through her underwear.

"Oh god," she moaned, pressing down against his fingers. She was growing wetter even as he explored her and Walter wasn't sure there was anything more erotic than feeling Paige's responses to him. "Touch me. Please."

Walter willingly complied, moving her underwear to the side and slowly pushing one finger into her. Paige sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head in his shoulder. This wasn't an ideal position, but he wasn't about to complain, especially not when it allowed him to hear every little noise of pleasure she was making. A rush of arousal coated his hand and he added a second finger, working faster inside her as her moans increased in frequency. She held him tighter, her hips starting to rock against him, and Walter thought he might lose control himself when she whimpered his name, pulsing around his fingers.

He removed them gingerly, stroking her back as she came down from it. "Wow," she said, laughing into his shoulder before she pulled back to look at him. "I didn't think I would be that easy tonight."

If she'd been more responsive after their separation, Walter was afraid of how _easy_ he might be. Paige tugged at the hem of her dress, yanking the whole thing over her head and exposing a matching nude lingerie set that implied she was at least prepared for the possibility of these activities. "You look so beautiful," he murmured, scanning her up and down—her mussed hair, her swollen lips, her flushed skin sheened with sweat. Everyone else could see her beauty, too; it was hard to miss. But only he got to see her like this.

"You're so handsome." She pressed her lips to his lightly, rubbing his cheek with her thumb. "Take off your clothes."

She didn't have to ask twice. Paige unbuckled his belt as he loosened what felt like a hundred buttons and shrugged off his shirt. His shoes had fortunately been tossed aside much earlier in the night, but his socks and pants still seemed like a frustrating burden as he struggled to rid himself of anything and everything separating him from her.

She was back in his lap in an instant, moaning into his mouth as she felt how ready he was. Walter could barely think through his haze of desire, but one thought nagged at him until he was lucid enough to verbalize it semi-coherently. "Paige, condom."

"We don't need one," she insisted between feverish kisses. "I'm still on the pill."

He wanted to ask why, but it _had_ only been two months, and sometimes women took birth control for other reasons, and all of that was beside the point right now. "I-I just don't…I don't think …"

"That we're in the right place to take that risk?" Paige filled in, clearly having been considering the same. She dropped her head back, groaning in frustration. "Damn, you're right. Go get one."

Walter was practically shaking as he headed to the bathroom, grateful he still had his boxers and undershirt on because this side of the garage was always freezing. It was torture to disentangle himself from Paige in the heat of the moment, but that was exactly why he needed to. A few years ago, he'd never expected that he was capable of wanting anyone as badly as he wanted the woman currently waiting for him. He couldn't let another impulsive decision jeopardize them.

He felt a small surge of triumph as he located the package in the medicine cabinet, and a surge of something else when he returned to find that Paige's undergarments were already folded neatly next to her. "Sorry," she said with a teasing smile that suggested she wasn't sorry at all about what she was doing to him. "You were taking too long."

"Jesus, Paige." His eyes never left her as he discarded the rest of his clothing. Walter's hand tangled in her hair as he knelt down and kissed her, grunting against her lips when he felt her roll the condom on. Paige brought him down with her until they were side-by-side, facing each other, and she swung one of her legs over his hip before guiding him inside her.

Walter couldn't breathe, but he knew he had to if he had any hope of lasting. She felt incredible around him and even though the list of things he missed about her was practically endless, the idea of never experiencing this again was among the most difficult to accept. He kept still, both to get himself under control and to give her time to readjust, until she kissed him and murmured, "I'm okay. Move."

He held the underside of her thigh as he pushed into her carefully, not wanting to go too fast for either of them. His lips traveled along her neck and shoulder, and her shaky breathing in his ear made him realize that she'd chosen this position because he was brushing her clit and he wouldn't have to wait that long for her to finish. "I love you."

"You're the love of my life," she assured him, kissing him deeply. He'd appreciated it the first time, but hearing it now, with no secrets between them…it was different. Better.

Paige gasped suddenly, shuddering in his arms. Walter groaned, starting to slow his thrusts in case she was too sensitive to continue, but she shook her head, grinding against him. "Keep going. I'm almost there."

"Oh." Walter didn't realize he'd forgotten that much about her body. "I thought—."

She smirked, cocking her head. "Second one, Walter."

"Oh," he repeated, feeling slightly embarrassed by his obliviousness. But he could wallow in it, or he could focus on making the love of his life come apart for the third time. His hand found her breast, massaging it as he thrust more forcefully and whispered to Paige how good she felt, and then she was falling over the edge, crying out his name. Walter followed almost immediately, unable to hold back even if he'd wanted to.

He waited until she was finished trembling to ease out of her, removing the condom and tossing into the mercifully close trash can. He would definitely have to remember to empty that before the team came in. "Are you okay?"

Paige rolled onto her back, breathing harshly as she pushed her damp hair away from her face. "More than okay," she said, looking up at him with a wide grin. "We should have had sex on the garage floor before."

That likely wasn't the reason for the intensity of their encounter, but wherever Paige wanted to make love, he wasn't inclined to argue. "I'm sure there are other surfaces here we haven't christened yet."

"We'll get there," she laughed, the contentment in her eyes almost perfectly reflecting his. "We've got plenty of time."


End file.
